WASHINGTON –Capt. Jay A. Young relieved Capt. Keith Lehnhardt as Naval Sea System Command’s (NAVSEA) Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), July 26.
Young reports to SUPSALV after serving as commanding officer of the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) from 2016 to 2019. His previous tours of duty include: LCS Program Office, DDG Program Office, Supervisor of Shipbuilding Bath Det. San Diego, Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast, Commander, Fifth Fleet, and the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving.
"I've always been extremely impressed with the technical expertise and caliber of personnel assigned to SUPSALV, and I am looking forward to my service as Director of Ocean Engineering," said Young.
During Lehnhardt's tenure with SUPSALV he presided over the coordination of numerous high visibility responses including: the salvage response and heavy lift of USS Fitzgerald and USS John S McCain in the western Pacific; search for the Argentine Submarine San Juan in the south Atlantic; oil removal operations on the sunken World War II vessel ex-USS Prinz Eugen located in Kwajalein Atoll; and recovery of the fuselage of a downed C-2A Greyhound aircraft in the Philippine Sea.
"I have been very fortunate to have served with such dedicated and professional shipmates," said Lehnhardt. "I'm confident the Navy's diving and salvage community is in good hands with SUPSALV's staff and new leadership."
Lehnhardt, who served as Director since May 2016, has been assigned as Director of Acquisition and Commonality at NAVSEA.
The Office of the Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage, directs development and maintenance of the Navy's salvage, underwater ship husbandry, diving, and certification program for the U.S. Navy.